The sun rises once more on the desiccated corpse of Astrexos, the wind whipping across the barren plains and broken mountains. The animals, both native and alien, all rise to begin another day of survival. And so do the people.
It had been walking the wastelands for 100s if not 1000s of years, it had stopped counting a long time ago. The Iron Orchid had been just drifting from place to place then 22 years ago, The Iron Orchid just walked into Karagas and stayed. It had found a spot just next to the inn and made a Small lean to there. All manner of bits and bobs sat in racks and odd box's. 99% of it junk, but it liked to keep it. The Iron Orchids service is simple, if you have a small house hold thing that's broken it will try and fix it. It kept away from fixing more complicated things as that lead to problems if not done right. Keep it simple and safe was its moto. This meant little money but it did not need much. With most of it's cash it paid the owner of the Inn for the Pitch and also to let it sit indoors at night, partly for safety and partly to keep an eye on the place. Its small Robot like form now stat Looking out the Inn window to see if any one wanted it's fixing skills. It was a respectable robot, not one of theses new Androids that showed up from time to time. Making oneself look like an Organic, really. It did look human like but the Iron Orchid did not like to think on that.
Now as it looked out the window, the town was waking up, it was almost always the same, faces changed, but it had the same beat, the same sound and form. It enjoyed just looking at the bustling and hustling, The Iorn Orchid was old very old, it remembered a time before this. When its kind would teem on the streets of vast cites, reaching into the sky. Fly pads would buzz overhead and Organics would be up and about enjoying the day. All gone now, the world was not the same but it has a beauty to it. Looking back it wished it could eat and taste like organics sometimes, in the room around it, some where eating now. Not for the 1st time, It thought to itself. What must it be like to eat? Moved its head back and looked again out the window. It would go outside soon, but it was in no rush as yet.
Neyra gazes in wonder at the giant mechanical scorpion and the armed MPs guarding the gates. It's been a long trip, but she finally has reached Karagas to seek wisdom from Father Iroy, and possibly help out in any way she can.
Stopping at the gate guards briefly to show her travel papers and ask for directions, she enters the town and makes her way to the Temple of Brigh, taking in all the sights around her.
The sun had finally peeked high enough in the sky to spill through the crack between the curtains, illuminating the copious amounts of dust in the air like glitter. A large lump of blankets on a mattress placed directly on the floor gave a heave and flopped over, revealing a young woman. The woman did not look particularly please to be awake, but she drug herself out of her bed and stumbled towards a sink and mirror in the corner of her one bedroom apartment.
Facing the mirror, she began her morning routine of trying to figure out if her hair looked clean enough to go another day without a wash. Probably not; she'll wear a hat. Again. She grabs her toothbrush, slaps on some toothpaste, and walks over to the window to better hear the announcements while she brushes her pearly whites.
Suddenly,there is a loud commotion as a hoverbike with a sidecar speeds into town, clearing a path through the crowd and coming to a stop in the garage of the local repair shop. Meanwhile, loud yelling can be heard coming from the town square, male and female voices yelling viciously at each other.
So much for a simple day, now lets she what all the hubbub is about
gets up and heads to the sound of yelling.
Looks around and trying to pick pick up what is being said
"Ah, Priestess. I am a new Knight of Brigh and am on my Novitiate Pilgrimage. Part of my first task was to seek out Father Iroy in Karagas for further guidance. I suspect that making the trek here alone and on foot was also part of the task. Shall I seek Father Iroy in the square or..." Neyra trails off momentarily as a loud commotion of hoverbikes and shouting distracts her.
"My apologies, Priestess. You said Father Iroy is in the square, and so I shall go seek him out. Thank you."
Neyra moves to leave but stops suddenly, turning back towards the Priestess. "Oh! I nearly forgot! Priestess, do you happen to have a spare copy of Logic of Design? The town I was initiated in did not have any to spare, and I would be grateful to obtain one if you have a spare. The words of our Goddess would prove to be an excellent companion on my Pilgrimage."
Asks others there,
"Sir, do you know what is going on here, no o well"
"Exsuces me madam but... Well really!! There is no need to use language like that"
"Do you know what's..I'm sorry I don't speak that dillect of great code, good day"
There was nothing for it, it would have to get closer, pushing its way past a few on lookers it got to a vantage point from where it could see...
At the sudden uproar Blink cranks open the curtains to get a better look, leaving her toothbrush hanging out of her mouth. The light hits her like a ball of fire to the eyes, and it takes awhile for her to adjust to the brightness of day.
Probably just the churches going at it again, she thought to herself as she squinted around, trying to get a clear sight of the action. Oh hey, nice bike.
Not wanting to miss out on anything, Blink kicks it into high gear. She grabs an outfit from a trunk in the corner of the room and throws it on, still fumbling with buttons as she squishes a hat onto her head and zips out the door.
She doesn't even realize she's still got her toothbrush in her mouth as she starts down the street.
In the town square, a crowd has gathered around 2 groups of priests. One group wears white and gold robes, and they seem to be led by a man with blond hair and a slightly muscular build. The other group is clothed in green and blue robes, and is led by an Elvish woman with white hair. The two leaders are yelling harshly at each other.
The blond man is currently speaking."You are going to fix our gearsmen! We know you sabotaged them just because you hate technology and believe the wastes will be saved by nature! Ha, yea, I'll believe that the day I also believe my zero rifle will turn into a ogre!"
The elf spits back."It will be saved by Gozreh's touch! Technology created this wasteland, it will not be the salvation of it! Now go tap at your stupid constructs with your little hammers in your futile attempts to fix what your goddess wrought upon the world!"
Neyra graciously accepts the holy text from the priestess. [b]"Thank you, priestess. I shall seek out Father Iroy at once,"[b] she says as she turns to leave.
Neyra then proceeds towards the town square and the commotion taking place.
Blink tries to get a head over the crowed, jumping about and trying to catch a view. "Pardon me-- 'Scuse me. Just--- Let me through, dammit!"
It takes more than a little elbow work, but blink eventually makes it to the front of the gathered crowed to watch the two priests go at each other. Again. I f@%+ing knew it, she thought to herself. She had been half hoping it'd be something a little more interesting this time. If she had any interest in religion, she might have found it a little more rousing to watch the two leaders of their respective churches yell in the streets like an abusive couple. As it was, it was simply disrupting her morning routine.
A small murmur through the crowed caught her attention, as did the--- construct... thing? that was causing it. No one seemed right keen on offering it any help, so she grabbed it by the wrist as it came past and tried to tug it towards her. "Front row seats right here," she said to it with a grin.
When was she going to notice that toothbrush?
"It will be saved by Gozreh's touch! Technology created this wasteland, it will not be the salvation of it! Now go tap at your stupid constructs with your little hammers in your futile attempts to fix what your goddess wrought upon the world!"
ARE! a factual inaccuracy
The Iron Orchid puts its hand up.
"Err, that's a slight inaccuracy, or mama.. priestess Actuality the wasteland as you call it now, was coursed by a combination of Biological AND Technological weapons, most crafted by Magic as you call it now. We had another name for it back then. It was large number of Radiation generating devices AND Transuranium concentrating life forms. They together toxified the environment and sterilized most of the habituated areas. I have observed mutations in the Bio forms in the wast land and also calculated the marked drop in expectancy of all Bio life in its area. That will linger for.. lets see... the half life off...is.., emm yes some 500,000 years give or take a 100,000 years. Not long really in geological terms. I find it fascinating why organics did this to themselves, it was all on the screen back then, every one had a screen back then, Pried to it for hours at a time they did. Looking onto the Rectangle god, they seemed to life it, did not see the point myself, I mean it was a Rectangle god or not what was the point of looking at it all the time. Did you know the organics back then with sit at meals and eat with one hand while holding the Rectangle god with the other. The hard large ones on all that... err..."
Then as it's arms is taken
"Sorry, Mama, young lady, what, hello, do I know you? O!! do you know you have a toothbrush stuck in your mother, would you like me to help you with that.
Gets pulled along.
"I wha---? Oh." Looking far less embarrassed than she probably should, Blink popped the toothbrush from her mouth and wiped any residual toothpaste around her mouth off on the back of her hand.
"You looked like you needed a front row seat," she explained to the robot looking thing. "And I just happen to have the best seats in the house." Using her toothbrush like a pointer, she waved to the pair arguing in the clearing the crowed had formed around the priests.
"They seem to be involved in an faith based allocation, something at seems to attract the very powerful and often also the very stupid. I try to avoid both if I can, I find the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. Instead of altering their views to fit the facts, they alter the facts to fit their views...which can be very uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that needs altering.”
Its says standing by her side looking at the two going at it.
"I am the Iron Orchid by the way, nice to meet you"
"Nice to meet you, Io," she said while reaching out to grab a metallic hand with the intent of shaking it, regardless of if the hand was offered. "Call me Blink. And don't you worry; I don't give a s!&@ about this here argument. I'm just waiting to see if they start hitting each other."
Moves as if shocked.
"Nice to meet you blink, O I see, you think they will, will that not bake a law? Io o I see yes clever, that is now I have never been called that before. I hope they dont hit each other, they may brake something."
But it looks at the two once more then back.
The elven priestess looks over to the robot that addressed her. "Your thoughts and opinion seem to be colored. You are, after all, a piece of technology. So to me, you're just walking scrap metal waiting to happen," she hisses as she walks off with her entourage walking beside her. Father Iroy does the same and walks off toward the temple of Brigh, muttering under his breath.
Tilts its head at the slightly muscular build man left standing as she walks off.
"Do you thinks he would be offended if I told her, her race was genetically engendered into existence just over 10,000 year ago. I used to have a copy of the core production Genome for Bio-repair work. The models have interbred with in models and other races. So it would be useless now. Odd how she decry's technology, She is as much the product of technology as I am."
She then looks back at Blink,
"sorry what where you about to say."
Blink's mouth twists to the side in something between disapproval and disappointment. "Not even a single punch thrown. What's the point of screaming in the streets every few days at each other?!" she said, waving her toothbrush around as she made exasperated gestures at where the pair had been.
"II figure they ought to just settle it with a fist fight at this point. Might give 'em a definitive winner for once."
Suddenly, a large humming noise, like something being turned on, is heard as the town's guardian robot is powered on. Its eyes sweep over the town, watching all of the small flesh-beings walk by,scanning them and taking its daily inventory of the town's residents.
As this happens, 3 cloaked figures appear from around a corner, heading towards the repair shop where the hoverbike had parked.
leans into Blink and points at the three cloaked figures heading towards the repair shop.
"You know that looks very suspicious, we get our daily scan and those three sulking around."
Neyra makes her way from the Temple in search of Father Iroy, using the brief description given to her by the priestess to go by. As she walks, she pauses momentarily to observe the towering robot guardian performing what she assumes is some sort of scan before continuing her search.
Finally, she sees a man wearing white and gold robes that appears to match the person she is looking for.
"Father Iroy?" she asks as she approaches him, not waiting for him to respond. "Father Iroy. I am Neyra, a recent addition to the Knights of Brigh and am currently on my Novitiate Pilgrimage. I was instructed by my superiors to locate you for further guidance on my Pilgrimage. Are there any tasks you require that I may perform to uphold the obligations of my quest?"
Father Iroy looks over, "What? Oh, a Novitiate, right, right, sorry child, my head was focused on other things. Now let me see if I remember, been awhile since a Novitiate has come to me..........Ah yes! As I'm sure you've learned in your training, Brigh is mother of technology, and she hates to see it go to waste. As part of your pilgrimage, you must delve into one of the old starships and retrieve a significant piece of tech. Not a battery or a flashlight. A weapon, suit of armor, a scanner of some sort, something that serves a large purpose to an individual. Then you must bring it back to the temple intact and the first part of your pilgrimage will be complete. I wish you well, child, now if you'll excuse me, I have some gearsmen that need repairs I must attend to....."
Blink follows the line where Io was pointing to and quirked an eyebrow. "Look like they're going for that Lone Ranger vibe. Only, I guess there's three lone rangers. Maybe they can be the 'Together Rangers'," she commented as she made a note of their garb. "Lame name for a gang though. Oh! Maybe they own that bike! We should go check! Maybe one of 'em is rich!" Why Blink decided it should be 'we' rather than herself was a mystery, but she eagerly waves Io onward. That bike was a mighty fine piece of work and she had a soft spot for that type of thing.
Neyra ponders over the instructions and task given to her. "My firs quest! How exciting!" she says excitedly. "I wonder where to begin. Perhaps I should ask around for the whereabouts of a crashed starship. I hope that the ones around here still have something worthy of the Goddess's praise," she says out loud to nobody in particular.
Looking around, she feels nearly overwhelmed with the number of people walking about. Deciding to let faith guide her, she closes her eyes and whispers a prayer to Brigh. Upon opening her eyes, she sees a rather old looking wyrwood robot and decides to go and ask it.
"Excuse me, Ser, but do you happen to know the best location of a fallen starship that has not been plundered as of yet? I am a Knight of Brigh on my Novitiate Pilgrimage, and the good Father Iroy has tasked me with recovering a valuable piece of technology from one of these starships. I am new to the area, so any assistance would be greatly appreciated."
"We should go check! Maybe one of 'em is rich!"
"Sounds like a splendid idea"
and follows.
"O a newly fallen starship, humm depending on its type, it's emergency transponder should still be working. Now if we could modulate a radio tracking device, we may try triangulation tracking to it. That would give us its location. I think I have the old emergency transponder codes somewhere in one of my data bases. But we would need a radio transponder resonator, probably a buster as well, o an power packs. Do's that help Sir"
Blink was just dragging Io along to accompany her on this little escapade of hers when they are approached by a rather pretty woman. Blink understands the bits about starships, plundering, and retrieving valuable tech, the that parts about fathers, knights, and pilgrimages are a little beyond her comprehension.
"You're stealing a tech for the who for the what now?" she asked, looking rather confused at the woman. That's when she noticed that the woman had directed the inquiry to Io, not herself.
A look of surprise crosses Nerya's face. "Steal? No no no... Knights of Brigh do not steal anything, my good lady," she scoffs. "The ruins of starships and their contents are subject to the Laws of Salvage developed by the remnants of our governments after The Fall. Article 37, Paragraph two-oh-five of the law states that 'Whatever salvage is recovered from the wreckage belongs to the salvager so long as they are in possession of a Writ of Salvage Rights. Exception to this rule stand for the Order of Brigh and it's affiliates, to include the Knights of Brigh, and as such are automatically granted salvage rights to any technology discovered inside of any ruin, wreckage, or similar relic of antiquity investigated by a member of the Order or Knighthood and their immediate associates.'"
Neyra stands there with a smile on her face, proud that she has remembered that particular legal doctrine. "Oh, where are my manners? My name is Neyra, and I am a Knight of Brigh. As I have said, I am on my Novitiate Pilgrimage. Now, what was it you were saying about a transponder and a... what was it... buster?"
"A pleasure to meet you Neyra Knight of Brigh I am The Iron Orchid, most call me IO for short. I am a designated analytic assessment repair autonomous synthetic Agent drone unit, and this is Lady Blink o the buster, yes, the craft should have a transponder. Now I have the pre fall emergency waveband codes some where."
IO stops and is still for a moment, then moves again.
"retrieved, yes I have them now, so we need a radio that can pick up the wavelengths and a single buster so we can do it at range. The wastes are big with magnetic storms. Now there will not a any valid Geo positioning information and most of the Satellites have failed now. I know I get lost all the time, signal is useless. But we can with the buster we can triangulate to the fallen ships emergency transponder signal. It may mean some travailing so transportation will be needed."
"Lady Blink, huh? Just Blink there, Io. Otherwise you're saying too many words. Wear out your jaw like that," Blink said pointedly, waving around her toothbrush as she spoke. "But anyhows, if you two are going to run off looting starships, I wanna go, too."
"It's not looting, La.. erm.. Blink. It's procurement and salvage, both legal practices. But that is besides the point. I believe I interrupted you two from some task. May I ask where you two seemed to have been going before my inquiries?"
"Loot, salvage, procuring. All semantics," she incorrectly deduced. When asked about their current destination, Blink points in the direction of where the hoverbike and cloaked chaps had gone off to. "Gonna go see that bike that came ripping into town!" she exclaimed excitedly. "Maybe meet those shady looking cloaked people while we're at it. I'm betting their some sort of gang!" The prospect of a gang probably excited Blink a little too much, but she had been getting bored around town lately. Not enough excitement for her tastes. Surely a gang would liven things up a touch!
Neyra looks in the direction that Blink gestured towards.
"Okay then. It looks like a repair shop. Perhaps we can procure some supplies or even a mode of transportation from there... After we see what those 'shady looking cloaked people' are up to, that is."
In the repair shop, the 3 cloaked men wait in a corner as the proprietors handle another customer's order. The man at the desk could pass for a human wearing a gray fur and leather sleeveless armor set, except he has pure white hair of medium length and his eyes have a yellow tint. Behind him, a woman with black hair in pigtails and an outfit straight of a steampunk holomovie carries in crates of junk and scrap. She too has unusual features, mainly the horns coming from her head and the pointed tail swishing through the air.
walks in and nods to the shop keep who it knows well, then walks around as if looking for this or that.
Blink boldly strides into the shop, chin high and stance exuding a certain level of confidence. "Whose bike?" she calls out as she stands in the most central location in the shop she can. "I wanna take it for a spin."
Neyra follows Blink and the Iron Orchid into the repair shop. Her hand rests on the pommel of her sword at her hip as she scans the room for anything that might be out of the ordinary.
The white-haired man looks up. "It's mine, and you may not take it for a spin. It's shop property."
Nothing seems out of the ordinary, other than the 3 cloaked figures.
Picks up a odd but of junk from the floor and offers it to on of the cloaked figures.
"I'm sorry but I think you dropped this"
The cloaked figures keep their heads down, ignoring the robot in front of them.
taps the cloaked figures on the shoulder with the but of junk
"Sir you dropped this"
"Aw, c'mon. I'll treat her real good. Like a classy kinda lady," she says, though her overly whiny tone clearly marks it as a joke. "Nah, what's a shop doing with such a nice bike? You working on rigging her up nice? What kind of tech you got running in her?"
Blink's questions are brought to a pause when Io repeats herself to the stranger.
"Oi, you deaf or just rude? She's trying to return things. What kind of manners did you're mother teach you anyways?"
Neyra casually walks up to the proprietor of the repair shop, her hand still resting on the pommel of her sword. She keeps a watchful eye on IO and her interactions with the cloaked figures.
"Excuse me, kind sir, for my associate's guff manners. It is actually I who desire the use of your magnificent vehicle. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Neyra, a Knight of Brigh on my Novitiate Pilgrimage and as such I am in need of a mode of transportation to perform the task bestowed upon me by my superiors. I have enlisted the aid of these two individuals to assist me in my mission," she says as she gestures to IO and Blink.
"We would be grateful if you would loan us the use of your vehicle. As per Article 84, paragraph four of the law, all proprietors of requisitioned vehicles are authorized full compensatory reimbursement should said vehicle be damaged, destroyed, burned, disintegrated, or lost to space and/or alternate planes of existence. I can procure a Writ of Compensation for you if you so desire."
Neyra patiently awaits the owner's response, still keeping a watchful eye on IO and the cloaked figures.
The cloaked figures move to another corner of a room to wait their turn at the desk.
The man at the counter looks at Blink. "We use the bike to transport scrap. We have membership in the Fool's Guild, so we delve into the wrecked starships to gather scrap to repair. As for using my bike, I'm a bit hesitant about it. She's a good bike, and I've worked hard on outfitting her with good tech I can find. Gimme a few to mull it over." He then turns to the orc customer he was talking to "Now, you said you had something wrong with your melee weapon's lock feature?"
"So you know the location of wrecked starships? Do you happen to know of any that I may investigate to complete my Novitiate Pilgrimage?"
"Yeah, the damn clasp on this thing broke the last time I, uhh. Used it," the brutish green-skinned man with tusks jutting from his lower lip replies to the shopkeeper as he hefts a rather large lance. From the way that it slides in and out of its handle with every tip of his wrist, something is very wrong with the weapon.
An idle glance at the man himself would reveal a head shaved almost completely bald but for a bit of stubble cropping up on his scalp. Prominent brow ridges have taken the place of his eyebrows, giving him a distinctly bestial visage when combined with the permanent underbite. An open leather coat rests across his shoulders and every shift lets the jingling sound of chain mail beneath catch the ears. Upon his forehead are a pair of goggles that likely double as sunglasses from the tint on them. Upon his back looks to be an intricately carved totem depicting all manner of scenery from grisly battles to what can only be religious ceremonies. Atop the totem sits a horse's skull that is speckled and flecked with all sorts of dark brown or black streaks. The totem is practically as large as he is, which is a hulking six and a half feet at least. Beside the totem sits what looks to be a worn, well-used musket coated in sand and grime.
"You think you can give me a minute with this guy, lady? I want to get out there as bad as you do," he asks Neyra quickly with perhaps just a bit more gruff a tone than is necessary.
"Lemme see it" The man looks at the lance and finds the issue. He goes to the the back area, where you hear the sounds of a laser torch being used on the lance. He comes back with the lance sheathed and presses the trigger on the lance's grip. The weapon's segments come out and lock together. He then sheathes it and lays it on the counter.
"There, should be good as new. It was a simple fix, so I won't charge ya anything for it. Also cleaned some weird green ooze off of the hilt for ya. Dunno what it was though."
"Ah, you're a gentleman and a scholar, my friend. You've gotten yourself a customer for life with that, that's a promise. Thanks a pile," Jaynus responds as he experimentally hits the trigger himself a few times just to make sure. Sure enough, the lance functions perfectly again and it is enough to draw a broad grin to his scarred features. "You let me know if there's anything I can do to return the favor, won't you?"
With that, he steps out of the shopkeeper's way and lets the Novitiate ask her questions. Despite apparently being quite finished, he sticks around to keep an eye on the three newcomers, looking very much as though he means to speak with them. Later, naturally. Not quite yet.